Phil's Finds - Jan 2024
So it’s been a while since I’ve written anything and I’m blaming the January effect for that. Call it a new year, new winter slump. I also haven’t been to a music event in a while so that’s another excuse.
However, I thought I’d write a bit about some of what I’ve listened to this past month. As some friends may know, I collect my music in a rather orderly fashion, organising my finds by month in a series of playlists on Spotify.
What do I mean by “find”?
To me, a find is a track that I’ve come across in a given period of time. For electronic music, finds are organised by month and my collection spans all the way back to June 2019, just as I started really taking an interest in the scene. Each playlist becomes my soundtrack for the given month so that I can get to know what I’ve found.
To cover some basic questions, here’s a list of “rules” I tend to follow to organise these tracks:
Tracks don’t need to be released in its given find month, I just need to come across it in that month for it to be included.
Tracks can be included in multiple months as I often find myself rediscovering a track that I’ve forgotten about from a previous month.
There’s no restriction on genre aside from that it should be in the realm of “electronic music”. I have a separate system for pop / indie / etc. tracks so these aren’t included.
And that’s about it.
I sometimes find it interesting to scroll back through the playlists and see my various interests in the past. Some playlists are really short with no more than 10 tracks in it indicating a month where I wasn’t listening to much electronic music. And some other playlists are filled with maybe 1 or 2 genres when I became hooked on a given genre and dove deep into Spotify’s archives to see what I could discover.
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
January’s Spotify Finds
I’m going to progress through this in a loose chronological order.
Starting off funky, we have Dope Dance by Tripolism, Nandu, and Radeckt. An intriguingly bouncy track with catchy vocals, I remember coming across this whilst listening to the New Music Friday Dance playlist that has become a staple to my weekly listening habits. I can’t decide whether this is pop or electronic music, however what I can say is that it slaps.
The next track is another of Tripolism’s and it’s called Luna Love. The Danish producers’ hypnotic and dreamlike style is clear here and I can’t help but sway slowly whilst listening to it.
Following this is a series of tracks stemming from my recent obsession with hard house which started with Marlon Hoffstadt’s (AKA DJ Daddy Trance) Boiler Room set at Glitch Festival from the summer. This genre is seeing a real revival at the moment and I’m finding myself diving into this genre again and again at the moment. January’s finds playlist has a myriad of tracks including three Tony De Vit remixes: Hannah Laing’s remix of Bring The Beat Back, BK’s remix of Don’t Ever Stop, and the storming Bulletproof remix of I Don’t Care.
Following the hard house trend, we have the Tainted Love remix by Paul Maddox and Shaun M. I’m partial to an edit from time to time and this one has added itself to one of my favourites. Soft Cell’s original track is already a great tune and Paul and Shaun have crafted something unique and fun with their remix.
Continuing on with the harder theme is Narciss. I first came across the producer on TikTok where they’ve done a series on their favourite vinyls they have in their collection. Of course when talking about Narciss I have to mention their EP collaboration with DJ HEARTSTRING: Why Can’t We Live Forever. Four stunning tracks that I can only recommend listening to. However, that was part of a previous month’s finds playlist but I did come across their collaboration with MRD called Midsommar. A perfect mix of trance and the harder house sounds.
Malugi is another big hitting hard house artist on the rise at the moment too. His latest track Really Happy has me (surprise surprise) feeling really happy.
Slowing it down, we have There It Is by Philippa which touches on the jazzier side of house music. This is the kind of track I’d enjoy in some dimly lit bar in Hackney sipping on overpriced cocktails. It has a delightful ambiance.
Another jazzy little number is Where I Hide by Flevans. The Brighton based producer’s joyous sound is infectious and I’m in love with how he combines jazzy elements with electronic instruments.
Sultan + Shepard are well known for their euphoric melodic sound and this next track is no exception to this. I can imagine En’s elated sound working as a good closing track in a set; a sea of tearful faces with their hands in the air dancing along.
Bringing it back to heavier sounds again, Switch Off The Light by Spada and Eleonora encapsulates my favourite side of house. I have no other way of describing it other than “heavy house music”. A techno-inspired kick drum and bass with similar rhythms to house, it reminds me of artists like Soulwax.
In a very similar vein, Moullinex and GPU Panic’s track 16K has that heavier, rolling beat that almost hypnotises the listener.
And I can’t mention Moullinex without talking about his edit of Maniac with Peaches. An iconic original track, this disco-y edit is a soundtrack built for strutting around the city.
Now I’ve not talked about drum and bass much in my blog yet and that’s mostly because my flatmate knows significantly more about drum and bass than I do. It’s always entertaining to hear the myriad of beats coming out of both of our rooms. But Delta Heavy’s new track Ecstasy is my favourite kind of drum and bass. Adrenaline inducing. Give it a listen and try to tell me you don’t feel the energy in it.
Closing out this finds roundup is Samaran’s track Supernova, ironically another great set closing track. My hands are raised once again listening to this at my desk.
Other Finds
So Spotify isn’t the only medium through which I listen to music. I have a number of other sources of musical entertainment. So in no particular order, here’s the rest of what I’ve been listening to.
Gym listening is always a struggle and I’ve found myself listening to more and more mixes instead of the same old playlists. Surusinghe’s mix from the recent Melbourne Boiler Room is a bouncy journey from beginning to end.
And if you’re in need of a more energetic mix, Sara Landry’s mix from the Boiler Room x Teletch Festival event had me hitting PRs in my squats.
And slowing things down in this final set, Kulør’s HÖR’s set from May 2022 was recommended to me by a friend. You don’t often hear a lot of classic trance out and about at the moment so her dreamlike set was a pleasant change from the usual rotation.
What’s On February’s Agenda
I haven’t really got a theme going into February yet. I’m enjoying exploring various genres especially the hard and jazzy house varieties. I’m planning a mix for the former at the moment so have been frantically collecting music for it.
Thanks for reading through to the end, if you couldn’t tell yet I’m still working out what I want this blog to be and I’m debating turning this into a monthly post detailing some of what I’ve been listening to. So please let me know if you enjoyed this, you can find me on all sorts of socials below:
And I didn’t include everything I’ve listened to this month as that may take a while to get through. However, the playlist is available here if you wanted to check it all out: